


Catch Me?...Always

by DisneyGeekWriter



Category: Frozen (2013)
Genre: F/M, circus AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-24
Updated: 2016-07-24
Packaged: 2018-07-26 09:23:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7568797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DisneyGeekWriter/pseuds/DisneyGeekWriter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This was written as part of the Kristanna Christmas in July event on Tumblr. Anna is a former trapeze artist coming back from an injury. Kristoff a master rigger and former gymnast. They meet fall in love. Based on the life of current America's Got Talent contestants the ThroWings. Super fluffy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Catch Me?...Always

**Catch Me?…Always**

A Kristanna Short Story

Based on the life of Anny and Andre, The ThroWings, as featured on America’s Got Talent 2016 

* * *

 

_Five Years Prior..._

_Anna Adelie took one last breath before taking the hand of her partner. Anna, a famed trapeze artist and her partner Hans, performed  together that night in Las Vegas for a smaller traveling circus. They took their bows and the music began. Everything was running smoothly. Until it wasn’t. They were attempting a different catch and release, one they’d only ever completed once in practice. But he was adamant they do it in performance._

_She swung down, gripping the bar with her knees, reaching for him. Two more passes and Anna took his arms, sailing through the air. Her trapeze bar swung  at a steady pace as they prepared for the toss. She was supposed to do several twisting somersaults in the air, and Hans would catch her then toss her to the bar for the finish. But that’s not what happened. The timing was off and as he let her go, she hit her head on her bar and fell to the net, the momentum and impact shattered her pelvis._

_Seven intensive surgeries, three years of physical therapy and rehab, and countless hours of pain before Anna was able to walk again. She never saw or spoke to Hans again. He didn’t even visit her in the hospital the night of the accident. She found out later that he had been blacklisted at nearly every circus and aerialist company in the country. Word had spread that he forced Anna into that stunt, and no performer would work with him because of it._

_During her recovery she taught gymnastics to preschoolers at a local gym in Henderson. She taught mostly tumbling and the basics. Working with the little kids and their parents lifted her spirits as well as helped her own healing. Also training at the gym was Kristoff Bjorgman, another trapeze artist. He had been in the audience the night of Anna’s accident. He was with a larger, more renowned  circus and had been scouting for new talent. He was going to pitch to Anna after the show to come work for his outfit, but then she got hurt. But he had seen her fly, saw her passion for the craft, and he had confidence in her._

_She saw him working out on the rings. His powerful upper body didn’t betray a single  sign of strain or fatigue as he completed his routine. To say she was impressed, and a bit smitten, was an understatement._

 

* * *

 

“You’re Anna Adelie, aren’t you?” Kristoff asked her, coming up to her after her first class. She was seated in her wheelchair, still recovering from hopefully her last surgery. 

“Yeah, I used to be,” she said with a sad smile. “Now I’m just plain Anna.”

“You’ll never be just plain Anna. Not with the way you can fly.”

“That was a different life. A long time ago.”

“What if I told you I could build you an act that would let you fly again?”

The thought of flying and being in the air performing was all that Anna wished she could do. But the thought of getting hurt again was much, much higher. “I would say you’re a crazy person.”

“I’m Kristoff and I’m not crazy. I can help you fly again.” He held his hand out to her. She studied it, recognizing the pattern of well-worn callouses on his palms and fingers. She looked up into his eyes, saw his sincerity and a hint of a challenge in those brown depths. Anna was never one to back down from a challenge. She placed her slender, calloused hand in his and shook it firmly. 

Almost overnight everything changed. She had a best friend, a champion in her corner. Instead of going to physical therapy alone, Kristoff was right there with her, helping her, cheering her on, urging her to push harder, try again. When she faltered or fell, he was right beside her to help her up, to goad her into tapping into her innate stubbornness, to encourage her to try again. Her whole demeanor changed once she and Kristoff started working  together. She was more confident and ready to take on more.

She wasn’t sure when she started to see him as more than just her best friend but someone she could and would trust with her heart. It happened and there was no explanation for it. And that day in physical therapy five months after they teamed up, after she completed a series of particularly difficult exercises on the third try, he was so excited he lifted her up and spun her about and kissed her soundly on the lips. He was so adorable as he blushed and set her down oh so gently on her wobbly legs and stammered that he’d like to kiss her again, and she kissed him and she couldn’t have been happier.   
  


* * *

 

After another year of hard therapy Anna finally got the go-ahead to start training for aerial work again. Kristoff made her dinner that night. He pulled out all the stops and decked his place out with candles, wine, roses, and tons of chocolate with fresh strawberries. She still had to use a cane for support but once she was in the house, Kristoff’s giant dog Sven was enough to hold on to. Sven was a Tibetan Mastiff, a gift from a couple from Tibet that performed with Kristoff at the show he engineered for a few years ago. Anna held tight to Sven’s collar and allowed the big dog to pull her through his small house. 

“To you,” Kristoff said, raising his glass. “The Amazing Aerial Anna and her hapless stooge, The Valiant Reindeer King.”

“We’ll need a new name,” Anna laughed, having her first glass of wine since coming off her meds. 

“I was thinking about that. Have you thought about doing a cradle?” Kristoff asked, taking her hand in his. “I know you’re used to the trapeze, but I don’t want to risk you getting hurt again. I love you.”

She gasped. It was the first time he had said it to her in the year they had been together. He looked surprised he let those three words slip, but he didn’t deny it or backtrack in any way. She knew he loved her; it was evident in everything he did. He drove her to her doctor’s appointments, listened when they offered new stretches and exercises to help her rebuild the muscles she lost while wheelchair bound. In his every action he showed her he loved her, and she loved him for it. Just the suggestion of building her an act so she could fly again was just what she needed. 

“And I love you,” she smiled, staring into his honey brown eyes.

The next evening after the gym closed for classes and only people practicing and working out remained, Kristoff and his crew set up the trapeze bars. While Kristoff knew it was safe, he wouldn’t let Anna close to the rigging until he tested everything. Anna froze upon the sight of the bars and started to back away. 

“I-I-I can- I can’t,” Anna said, fear crippling her. She remembered everything about her accident. The fear she had even attempting it, his voice telling her that they were going to do it anyway. “No, I can’t.”

“Hey, Anna, it’s okay. We’re just swinging. Nothing else,” Kristoff said, taking her hand, pulling her to his broad chest. “I will never push you until you’re ready. I promise. I’m here to catch you. I will never let you fall.”

They sat together on the bar and just swung in the air. Anna’s red hair was in fancy braids, loose tendrils  framing her beautiful face. For the first time since her accident, Anna was back in the air. It may have only been less than five feet off the ground but she was flying again. 

“I’m going to help you to fly again, Anna Adelie,” Kristoff whispered in her ear. He cupped her face in his hand and kissed her softly. “You’re going to fly, my love.”

“Catch me?”

“I will always be there to catch you.”

He stilled the swing and jumped down on to the mats below. He took her by the waist and helped her down as well. “Stay right there,” he said, squeezing her hand. He let out a whistle and Sven came bounding into the gym. Attached to his collar was a red ribbon with something hanging from it. The big dog, also in training for the circus, bowed to Anna, and Kristoff pulled the ribbon and held out the ring in front of her, also bowing and getting on one knee. 

“Anna Adelie, nothing would make me happier than to be your husband,” Kristoff declared. “I love you. Will you marry me?”

“Yes,” Anna cried, as he slipped the raw purple crystal ring onto her hand. He gathered her into his arms twirling her around, his lips crashing into hers.While he would love to make love to her right there, the gym wasn’t the place for engagement celebration sex. Cradling her in his arms he whistled for Sven and they locked up the gym and headed back to their house. Anna had given up her apartment months ago, seeing as she spent nearly every waking hour with Kristoff. 

Kristoff carried her into the house, barely breaking the kiss to open the door. He didn’t want to put her down, to end their connection. The whole drive home she was pressed as close to him as she could in his old truck, staring at her ring. The big dog’s head in her lap, her hands stroking his fluffy ears. 

“I am so happy,” she whispered, feeling his free arm going around her shoulders. 

“I only want you to be deliriously happy, my Anna.”

He held her close to him, the scent of her hair intoxicating to him. He wanted to stop the truck and lay her in the back and make love under the stars but that wasn’t what she deserved. She deserved to be pampered and adored. And that did not include doing it in the back of his truck with his dog in the front seat. He needed to get her home and into their bed.

They made love for the first time that night. He was gentle and caring, taking every precaution to not hurt her. She was his porcelain doll, precious and delicate, yet filled with such inner strength and indomitable spirit. He savored every inch of her body, running his hands over every curve and line. She was perfect and he would love her for the rest of his life. 

* * *

The following day they passed the Bellagio on their way to therapy, the fountains dancing and shooting off their show. 

“Someday, baby,” Kristoff said, pointing at the marquee for the _Cirque du Soleil_ show _O_. “Someday that will be us up there. I will get you back to the top. I promise.”

Kristoff and his rigging crew worked for the next month building a casting cradle. It was a two-person acrobatic act. Person A is the Caster and is usually the stronger of the pair. Kristoff had done cradle before with a different partner that had since moved on in the show and was working with the silk aerialists. To be the Caster took immense core and arm strength, something Kristoff had in spades. Person B, the Flier, had to have a great amount of flexibility, aerial grace, and most of all, trust and faith in the Caster. The Flier’s very life was in the Caster’s hands. Anna, small and light was a perfect Flier. 

Hours upon of hours they practiced and he never dropped her, missed a catch or allowed her to feel unsafe. His crew watched as Anna flew through the air, amazed at her abilities. She was graceful and strong. The cradle was perfect for her. She wasn’t afraid because she knew Kristoff would catch her. 

“You know, baby,” Kristoff mentioned  one night, while they cuddled in bed. “America’s Got Talent is coming to Vegas next month. We should enter. Let the entire world see how amazing you are.”

“Do you really think we’re ready for that?” Anna asked. 

“Yeah, I do. You’re going to be fantastic.”

“Catch me?” 

“Always, baby. Always.”

* * *

A month later they were sitting in front of a camera crew talking about themselves. 

“I’m Anna Adelie-Bjorgman and this is my husband Kristoff,” Anna said. “And we are cradle aerialists. Uh, Kristoff throws me into the air and catches me.”

“Is it true you were severely injured in a trapeze accident?” the interviewer asked. 

“Yes, my former partner pushed me into a stunt we weren’t ready for,” Anna explained. “But with Kristoff, we have worked for over  a year on our act. He built our rigging with his own hands. He’d never put any of his performers in danger. He’s the chief of rigging and operations for the Arendelle Circus in Las Vegas.”

“What made you decide to become part of the show instead of just building for it?” 

“Anna. She deserves to be a star and if I can be a part of it, helping  her fly again, then nothing will keep me from doing just that,” Kristoff said, kissing the side of her head. “She deserves to be in the air, to fly. And I’ll do what I can to make that happen for her.”

“When I fell,” Anna’s voice-over for their TV appearance said, “I didn’t know if I’d ever walk again, let alone fly. But then I met Kristoff, who was at the show where I was hurt. He saw me fall, and he helped me gain the confidence to get back in the air. When I was afraid he took me in his arms and said, ‘I am always there to catch you.’ I knew then that I could do this.”

“Anna is amazing. I was there the night she got hurt. I was there to recruit her for Arendelle because I knew she wasn’t going to be a star where she was. Her former partner dulled her. When we finally met at a local gym, I knew I was looking at my future. Helping Anna fly, that’s been a dream come true for me too,” Kristoff said in his interview. 

Before they went onstage at America’s Got Talent, Kristoff oversaw the set -up of their rigging, triple checking every single bolt and wire. Nothing would happen to Anna on his watch. They were given the okay to take the stage and introduce themselves to the judges. 

“Welcome to America’s Got Talent,” Heidi Klum greeted them. “Who are you?”

“I’m Anna Adelie-Bjorgman and this is my husband Kristoff,” Anna said. “We’re aerialists.”

“What is that thing you have built behind you?” Howie Mandell asked. 

“It’s called a Russian Cradle,” Kristoff said. “A two person trapeze like performance.” 

“I read in your biographies that you were seriously injured before,” Simon Cowell said, his stern, no- nonsense face staring up at them. 

“I was with a different partner and I was hurt. Shattered my pelvis,” Anna answered. “Five years of recovery later, I’m standing here, ready to fly again.”

“And despite that you’re going to do it again?” Simon asked. 

“Kristoff gave me the courage to try again. I belong in the air. It’s where I am most happy.”

“Well, show us what you’ve got then,” Mel B. grinned. 

Kristoff kissed Anna before they both climbed the rigging getting into place before starting. She said a silent prayer before standing on his shoulders and their music began. He held her by the ankles and she fell backwards and seamlessly into a full somersault and with ease he caught her and swung her more. Together they flew. The audience went wild with applause with every stunt, upping the degree of difficulty with every pass. Anna didn’t have time to fret, only to fly and to trust that his hands would be there to catch her no matter what happened. Before she knew it, their time was up and she found herself in his arms fifteen feet off the ground. He kissed her again before carefully lowering her to the mat below. 

The audience was in a frenzy. They hadn’t seen anything like that to this point. Even the judges were impressed. They gushed over the danger and the elegance they saw. All four judges gave them a resounding Yes! Backstage, before overseeing the dismantling of their rig, Kristoff lifted Anna into his arms and kissed her. 

“Anna, I told you I would help you fly again.”

Despite being beaten in the semi-final round by yet another singer, Anna and Kristoff were offered work with a new Cirque du Soleil show. But they had to turn it down for the time being as Anna was pregnant. They had twins, Matthew Rupert and Rachel Marie, who soon joined the ranks of the new generation of performers. Matthew took after his father, tinkering and building as well as performing. Rachel took dance and gymnastics, taught by her mother, having retired from flying professionally to teach others to find their wings. 

Sometimes when the gym was silent and empty Anna and Kristoff would set up the trapeze and together they would fly, remembering the time when they made national TV showing the world their love and eternal trust.


End file.
